Where Do We Go From Here?
by Shimm
Summary: Based on X-Men and takes place 2 years after X2. Rogue has been gone, and she returns as a changed person. New characters are introduced, and new situations arise. Please Read and Review. Any criticism is welcomed.
1. Home Sweet Home

She walked through the gardens for the first time in two years. She'd been gone a long time.in felt like an eternity. Things looked exactly the same as they did before the school was invaded. Before she left.  
  
She had spent the past two years with Mystique. Why? That was an excellent question. She didn't know why. Especially now, after so much had happened. So much had changed her. It wasn't something she wanted to recall, but it was always there. Carol was always in her head.  
  
It was time to focus on something else. She was finally home. Where she belonged. Now it was time to see if everyone else felt the same way.  
  
She exited the garden and walked up the winding path to the entrance of the mansion. There was no one around, probably because it was lunch time and the middle of February. She pulled open the heavy door and stepped into the warm building. She was greeted by the old, musty scent of the school. Still had the same old smell.  
  
Before she could decide what to do first, a young man came charging down the stairs to her right. She watched him, setting her bag down next to the door. His face was unfamiliar, but intriguing. He was lean and muscular and had reddish-brown hair that was uncontrolled by anything. Suddenly, he noticed her, and stopped abruptly at the bottom of the steps.  
  
"Well, hello, cherie. Where' you come from?" he asked in an accent she wasn't quite familiar with. It sounded almost Cajun. He bagan to approach her, and she realized that she hadn't answered him.  
  
"Ah'm lookin' for the Professor," she replied, ignoring his inquiry.  
  
"I'll take you," he said, offering his arm.  
  
"Ah can walk on mah own. Ah don't need yah' arm ta hold me up," she said with a sort of smile.  
  
"Jus' a common courtesy. I'm Remy. Whah's your name?" he asked leading her to the professors office.  
  
"Rogue," she answered, as they reached the office. He knocked on the door, then opened it. When the Professor saw her, he put down the term paper he was reading.  
  
"Well, Rogue, it's about time you came back to us. Remy, will you please excuse us?" He asked Remy who was leaning against the doorframe staring at Rogue. He silently left and the Professor continued.  
  
"How was your stay with Mystique?" he asked motioning for her to sit down.  
  
"Ah shoulda known you'd figure out where ah was," she said, sitting in the chair across from him. He smiled at her and she continued. "Ah don't know why ah went. It's just that when Jean disappeared, ah realized that ah didn't really have much of a purpose. Ah don't know, that sounds really stupid. Ah'm just so sorry ah ever went. Ah'm changed now. Ah'm a different person than the one you knew two years ago." She looked down at her gloved hands.  
  
"It's true. You have changed, Rogue, but don't think that it's a bad thing. I sense that you are much stronger now. Physically and emotionally- " he stopped, and his attention turned to the open door.  
  
It was Bobby. "Sorry to interrupt Prof- Rogue?" He asked in disbelief when he saw her. She turned to face him. He stared at her face. She looked so much older now. When she had first left, he felt so alone.so betrayed. He loved her, and she abandoned him, much like his own family. Now she was back, sitting right there in front of him.  
  
"Bobby.Hi," she said, not being able to come up with anything even remotely appropriate for this situation.  
  
They both just stared. 


	2. More Than She Wanted To Know

Rogue couldn't stop thinking about Bobby as she walked up the stairs to her room. He had looked so hurt when he saw her sitting there. She never meant to hurt anyone, especially Bobby. Her thoughts were interrupted when Remy came up behind her and took her bag.  
  
"Need some help, chere?" he asked smiling at her. He wasn't sure exactly why, but he was drawn to this girl. She was exceptionally beautiful, but that was only part of it.  
  
"Ah don't need yah help. Ah'm probably 100 times stronger than you," she said honestly, holding her gloved hand out so he could return her baggage.  
  
He handed it back to her hesitantly. "Whea' I come from, da man take cah' of da lady. You awful stubborn, chere." She didn't answer him, but he continued to follow her up the steps. "You been inside for a good hour. Why you still wearin' 'dose gloves?" he asked, lightly touching her hand.  
  
"Why are you still followin' me around?" she asked, annoyed. He stared into her eyes and she noticed for the first time that they were completely black, save red irises. They stopped her in her tracks, burning into her soul.  
  
"You da most beautiful girl I ever seen, chere," he said softly, reaching his hand up to touch her white hair. She just stared into those black eyes absently, but he ran his hand over her cheek and she could feel his energy enter her body. She immediately flew backwards over the rail away from him.  
  
He didn't understand what had just happened, and was about to comment on the fact that she could fly, when her bag turned bright orange and blew up, causing him to fall backwards down the stairs with the force and for her body to fly back and hit the wall, creating a huge hole.  
  
He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, chere. You alright?" he asked worriedly as he got up to run to her aid. He was completely confused at this point. Maybe because he had hit his head pretty hard.  
  
She brushed herself off, noticing that her gloves had burned right off of her hands. Remy approached her at the same time the rest of the school showed.  
  
Scott and Bobby were the first to run in. Scott looked around at the room and frowned, but then noticed Rogue in the middle of it all. "Rogue? You're back?" he asked in disbelief.  
  
Bobby lunged at Remy, who almost fell backwards. "Did you touch her?!" he yelled. "Did you fucking touch her, Gambit?!" he screamed, rattling him by the collar.  
  
"Bobby, stop it!" Rogue screamed as Remy's jacket began to form ice. "Bobby!" She yelled pulling him off of the confused young man.  
  
Bobby was shocked at the amount of force Rogue was able to use to pull him off. He looked at her bewildered. Scott ran over to them and prepared to scold. "Bobby, what were you thinking? You know Remy's new here. He didn't know about Rogue." He paused and looked at the mess. "What happened here?" he asked both Rogue and Remy.  
  
"Don't ask me," Remy replied, cracking the ice from his jacket off. "I am more confused 'den I been in a long time."  
  
Rogue turned to Scott so she could explain what had happened. "He accidentally touched me, and ah absorbed his power. Ah don't know how to control it," she said to Remy. "That's wah mah bag exploded like that."  
  
"Touching you wasn't no accident, chere," Remy said with a grin. His smile immediately vanished when he saw Bobby's angry glare. This was going to be a lot of fun. Bobby already hated him and he'd only been here a week. Why Bobby had this intense hatred toward him was unclear. But it seemed that he and Rogue had known each other. Great. Another jealous boyfriend.  
  
Deciding that poor Rogue must be completely mortified, Jubilee stepped in.  
  
"Shut up, Gambit," she said as she started walking over to Rogue. Her belongings were completely destroyed by the blast. "Come on, I'll lend you some stuff," she said smiling.  
  
The crowd of mutant students dispersed and Jubilee led Rogue upstairs to her room.  
  
"Looks like I'm finally gonna have a roommate, huh?" she asked Rogue while looking through her dresser. Everything was a complete mess. There were clothes and CDs everywhere. Rogue sighed in exasperation at the sight. Typical teenaged girl. "So where were you, anyway?" she asked, pulling out the set of sheets for Rogue's bed. She was about to hand them to her, but remembered the incident downstairs. "Oh yeah. I'll do it for you. You might still have Gambit's power."  
  
Rogue, choosing to ignore Jubilee's question regarding her whereabouts, decided to establish her own inquiry. "Ah guess ah've missed a lot 'round here. Where did that guy come from, anyways?"  
  
"Ooh, yeah. Remy," she sighed, blushing a little. "He's from New Orleans. Isn't his accent sooo hot?? I swear. The first time he called me 'chere' I thought I was gonna die! He's so cute!" she rambled tucking the sheets under the mattress. "Rumor has it, though, that he's married to some chick in Louisiana, but she cheated on him with his best friend!"  
  
Yup. Leave it to Jubes to give you the juiciest gossip.  
  
Rogue stood leaning against the door frame while Jubilee continued her rant about how stupid this woman could be to cheat on Remy LeBeau. Rogue could feel Remy in her head now, and could feel how much it hurt him when he found out about Bella. It was only two months ago. The memories were flooding her mind now. Their high school courtship, the small wedding they had 3 years ago when he was only 19, Rogue's age. And finally the scene unfolded before her eyes. Remy had finally found a decent job. One that didn't discriminate against his mutant heritage. He was so proud. So pleased that he might be able to make Belle happy. Smiling, he opened the door to the kitchen. There she was. His beautiful wife. Crystal clear blue eyes. Cascading blond curls. In the arms of his one true friend. The bottle of champagne he had been holding became charged with energy. It crashed to the floor startling Belladonna and her lover. She stared at him with those endless blue eyes. His so-called friend looked at him and snickered. "The freak can't even hold a bottle of cheap champagne without turning it into a weapon."  
  
"ROGUE!" Jubilee shouted for the fifth time.  
  
"Whah? Oh, sorry. Ah was-jus' thinkin'." 


	3. A Real Mission

Note: Thanks to those who reviewed. I really appreciate it. It's stuff like that, that keeps me going. hint-hint  
  
*****  
  
She just stared at the ceiling and listened to Jubilee's soft breathing. This was useless. She couldn't sleep, which was a common problem for her. She quietly arose from her bed and, walking through the path she had cleared earlier, she made her way to the door.  
  
Upon entering the hallway she heard the quiet echo of the television set in the common room. Her curiosity easily got the better of her and she drifted downstairs to see who was in there. She stood at the doorway and looked in. As soon as she had seen who it was she tried to flee. But it was too late. He had seen her.  
  
"Rogue, I want to talk to you," he said waving her in.  
  
She obediently sat down beside him, not daring to look him in the eye. "Bobby, ah want yah tah know-" she started, but was immediately hushed.  
  
"Rogue, I'm over you," he said. "When you first left I was so-destroyed. But time really does heal all wounds. Anyway, I wanted you to know that I'm sort of with Kitty now. Don't ask how that happened," he added, "but I really care about her. And I stopped believing you'd ever come back."  
  
And it's hard to stay faithful to a girl who can't be touched, she thought to herself.  
  
"How long have yah been tahgether?" she asked, not truly sure she wanted to know.  
  
"Almost a year," he answered. This was starting to get uncomfortable.  
  
"Congratulations, Bobby. Really, ah'm happy for yah both." It was true. If Bobby was happy, she was happy. She only wished, that for once, she could be the one to make someone else that kind of happy.  
  
"Ah'm sorry ah ever hurt you, Bobby. Ah didn't mean to. Ah don't know whah ah left in the first place. Ah left so much behahnd."  
  
"I'm past all that," Bobby replied, though he wasn't quite sure that he really was. Or that he was really "over" Rogue at all. But he said what he had to say to retain his dignity and what he had left of a life.  
  
***** The next day, no matter where she looked, she saw people touching each other. That was the good thing about life with the Brotherhood. No one touched each other. She wasn't so much of an alien there.  
  
But here, back in Westchester, she saw the younger girls playing clapping games, the boys arm wrestling, Bobby and Kitty holding hands and occasionally kissing. That was then worst. Seeing one of the two boys she had ever kissed in her whole life kiss another girl. She wouldn't have that problem with Cody. She had killed him. Bobby's kiss was special. Maybe because he survived it. Maybe because she knew how precious it was to begin with. Or maybe because he wanted it to happen even though he knew what Rogue was. What she was capable of. In any case, she couldn't help but feel jealous of Kitty.  
  
"Nothing lasts forever, Rogue," came a voice from behind. It was Storm. Embarrassed that she had been staring, Rogue blushed and turned to speak with Ororo.  
  
"Ah know. Ah jus' can't believe it, is all. Ah guess parta' me always thought he'd be there, yah know?"  
  
"I think he probably felt the same way when you left. But, like I said, nothing lasts forever." Storm suddenly remembered why she had approached Rogue in the first place. "I need to speak with you about a serious matter. An issue has suddenly arisen. One that needs immediate attention. I need you to come on a mission with Iceman, Gambit, Shadowcat, Jubilee and I. A new mutant has surfaced off the coast of Florida. He has a power identical to yours and we must stop him before he finds the Porlick Amulet. This jewel will intensely enhance his power to the point where he could easily take the powers of every mutant in the world. You can see why this would be a problem."  
  
Rogue nodded, and agreed that she should accompany the X-Men on this mission. For one, because of her powers, but she also hoped she could be somewhat of a peacekeeper between Bobby and Gambit.  
  
"When do we leave?"  
  
*****  
  
The trip by jet to Florida was less than pleasant. It was almost funny how Gambit stared at Rogue with desire, and Bobby, in turn, stared at Gambit with the desire to punch his lights out. Kitty, as usual, was oblivious to their glances and continued to chew her watermelon bubblegum and flip through her Valentine's Day issue of Seventeen Magazine. Rogue, on the other hand, had to pretend to be oblivious, which was difficult since all she had in her lap was her hands. She pulled off her glove and inspected it carefully, then slid it on and off pretending there was something wrong with it that needed her immediate attention.  
  
"Need some help, chere?" Gambit asked, watching her play with the glove, and knowing full well it was her desperate attempt to avoid everyone around her.  
  
"Uh, no, ah'm ok," Rogue replied, finally slipping it on and leaving it in place.  
  
Bobby wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, 'Can't you leave her alone for ONE SECOND?!?!' but he restrained himself. 'I'm over Rogue. I'm with Kitty now.' Not so tough.  
  
Rogue, afraid Gambit would attempt conversation again, moved up to the front of the jet to sit with Storm. "Are we almost there?" she asked sitting beside her.  
  
"Are they giving you a hard time back there?" she asked with a smile. "Don't worry, we're about to descend." 


	4. Florida

NOTE: Ami, that was the nicest review I've ever read! I'm afraid I might be letting you down in the future. Thanks so much for your reviews, everyone! =)  
  
When they landed on the ground, they all exited the jet.  
  
"So whea' exactly is dis crystal?" Gambit asked, flipping a card between his fingers. He wasn't exactly happy to be stuck with Ice-boy here. Heh. This was Florida. Maybe if he was lucky, Ice-boy would melt. He smiled to himself and awaited Storm's answer.  
  
"We don't know where the amulet is, exactly, but we must remember that when we find it, we must destroy it. Since we do not know where it is, we will spend this time searching for Benjamin, the mutant here that has the power of absorption," she explained to them, waiting for the Professor to tell her where Benjamin was.  
  
He suddenly entered her mind as if on cue. **He is on the beach. I will guide you.**  
  
"He is on the beach," Storm dictated, "Professor Xavier will guide us."  
  
"Yes! He's on the beach!" Kitty exclaimed, excited that finally a mission wasn't in a place where it snowed 10 months of the year.  
  
They walked the short distance to the shore and the Professor led them straight to where Benjamin was sitting on a picnic blanket all alone. It was quite easy, considering that the beach was empty this time of year.  
  
"Benny!?" Rogue exclaimed staring at the guy. "How did yah get to Florida?! Does your Mam know yah here? No, ah'm sure she don't or she'd give you one helluva whippin'." This was outrageous.  
  
"Who is dat, chere?" Gambit asked, a little jealousy rising in him. Another boyfriend perhaps.  
  
"This here's mah cousin Benny," she said impatiently.  
  
"Hold up, Marie! When's the las' tahme YOU spoke tah anybody in our fam'ly, huh? Three or four YEARS?" he demanded, standing up.  
  
Storm saw this as a good opportunity to step in. "Why don't we all just calm down." If Benny really did have the amulet, he could kill them all in seconds. Then she spotted it. It was around his neck. He'd already found the crystal and was wearing it. Storm decided not to highlight her newfound information, for fear that he would become frightened and run away, or worse, use his power on them.  
  
"Shut up!!" They both yelled at Storm, too caught up in their family affair to care what she thought.  
  
She had to do something to stop them. She conjured up hurricane winds. Not such a great idea, considering that sand blew into everyone's eyes and pushed them around uncontrollably. She meant for it to be a diversion, but it just didn't work out that way.  
  
Suddenly, Benny toppled over onto Rogue, his bare arm smashing into her face. Rogue felt the strangest sensation. It wasn't the pain from being elbowed. It was as though---  
  
Benny jerked away from her. "Oh mah God! Marie! Are yah ok?? Ah didn't mean tah touch yah!" Benny's mind was flooded with Rogue's memories of her life with the Brotherhood. Magneto, Mystique- everything. He had never known that she was a mutant, and so much like himself, before now.  
  
"Ah," Rogue started, "Ah feel so weird," was all she could say to describe how she felt.  
  
"Ah'm so sorry, Marie.. Ah musta' taken your powers when ah fell on yah."  
  
This suddenly registered in her mind at the same time it registered in Gambit's. He had taken her power. Which meant that she could touch.  
  
Gambit took this opportunity to approach her. "Can Gambit touch you, chere, jus' to test it out?" he asked.  
  
At first she was hesitant, but she nodded, having a feeling she was powerless. Expecting him to touch her wrist, she held out her hand to him. But Gambit could think of plenty other places to touch that would be more pleasing to them both than her wrist.  
  
He stepped even closer to her, so that his red/black eyes could burn into her soul like they had before. Her heart fluttered when he took her arm and moved it to his shoulder. She could feel his hard muscles beneath the light material of his T-shirt. Then he leaned in slowly, so that she could stop him if she wanted to, and grazed her lips with his own. And then it was over. Rogue opened her eyes again and saw him still standing there with her hand on his shoulder and his arm around her waist. His eyes still burning into her.  
  
"Ah-Ah didn't feel anything," she stuttered, still staring into his eyes.  
  
"Den perhaps we should try again, jus' to be sure," he said leaning in slowly again. This time, rather than just grazing her lips, he pressed his against hers, taking in her taste, and the pleasure of feeling her kiss him back.  
  
When he had pulled his lips away from her the second time, he said, "I sure felt sometin' dere, Rogue."  
  
Rogue could feel her face get hot and was suddenly aware of all the people around them.  
  
But particularly Bobby. He was about to do something she could never forgive him for. 


	5. Revelations

Author's Note: I realize that there are some discrepancies in this story, which is why I made it based on the movies, rather than the comics. I'll probably go back and edit to make it more realistic. I've pretty much just been writing each piece and posting it right away without much revision. Sorry to those who are bothered by this, but I needed it for my plotline. Thanks again for the reviews =) I'm glad I can do something to better my story.  
  
*****  
  
Rogue had felt like she was in a dream. It was the most wonderful feeling. Touch. But she saw Bobby and saw him commit the one most horrible thing he could possibly do to her. As if in slow motion, she saw Bobby lunge at Benny. He grabbed the amulet and smashed it against a rock. And there, as suddenly as they had appeared, her dreams of a normal life with normal human contact, were gone.  
  
She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, but she couldn't. She was never really meant to lose her power in the first place. And Bobby was only obeying Storm by destroying the crystal. Her powers hadn't returned yet. She expected it would take a few hours. Maybe even a day.  
  
There were no sounds but the waves crashing against the very same rocks that Bobby smashed the crystal against. Everyone stared at something- anything, but Rogue. Even Kitty, who always had something to say, was totally silent.  
  
Rogue could feel the tears beginning to fill her eyes. She turned away from them and walked down to the shore by herself, not really knowing what to do. Bobby started to walk after her, but Storm held him back and just shook her head, her motions telling him that this wasn't a good time.  
  
Rogue sat down in the sand, her feet just close enough to the ocean to feel the cool water lick them. She sat there for a while just staring at the water.  
  
Remy, still standing in the same circle as the others decided that Rogue needed someone. That this wasn't the time for her to be alone. He walked after her, much like Bobby, and when Storm tried to stop him, he simply looked her right in the eye, burning into her soul like he had done to Rogue those few times.  
  
He approached her and sat down beside her, even though she didn't acknowledge his presence at all. It was hot on the beach in the sun and she had taken off her sweater and was wearing jeans and a white tank top. He slowly put his arm around her, rubbing her shoulder gently with his fingers. At first her reflex to pull away came into play, but she slowly leaned into him and breathed out. There was no point in trying to fight this. She loved the feeling of him touching her. True, it might be harder to deal with later, but she was living now. Who knew what was to come in the future?  
  
They sat in silence, each of them trying to take in all they could from this once-in-a-lifetime experience.  
  
Back toward the jet, the rest of them stood watching. None of them could bring themselves to interrupt them because they knew that they couldn't possibly imagine how Rogue was feeling. Finally, they saw Rogue and Remy approach them, holding hands. No one could be sure if Gambit was trying to score, or trying to make Rogue feel better. But from the look on his face, he was far from happy. His look was pained and anguished, reflecting the look Rogue had.  
  
Rogue walked right past all of them to the jet, not looking any one of them in the eye. Bobby mumbled a weak apology, but was silenced by Gambit's stare. It wasn't so much a look of hate, as a look of sorrow.  
  
What none of them could see were the feelings that Remy had for Rogue. He didn't understand his own feelings of attraction to her, but they were there, and they were strong. It just hurt him so much to see her in pain. He barely knew the girl, but he felt a connection to her. Almost like his connection to Bella, but-different somehow.  
  
The group flew back to the mansion in silence, Ben included. Remy say beside Rogue and caressed the tears away from her face, though this only made her cry more. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore.  
  
"Please, don' weep, chere. Try and look at dis as a gift. You been given de chance to touch. Enjoy it while you can. I don' know how long it'll last, but please. I know you'd be happier if you'd just appreciate it while you can and accept dat you only have dis short time." He only wanted to see her happy. He wanted to see a smile on that beautiful face.  
  
"You don't know what this feels like, Remy. You ain't got a clue," she replied.  
  
"Yes, I do. I used to burn everything I touched, chere. Before I knew how to control dis power of mine. I didn't touch a soul for t'ree years. I couldn't touch de girl I was in love wit' since we was kids because I was afraid I'd hurt her. But when I realized what I was doin' wrong, why I was burning things, I was so happy, chere. De first thing I did was take dat girl up in my arms and kiss her everywhere I could. And I was de happiest man alive."  
  
"Before she cheated on you," Rogue finished. Gambit was a bit shocked that she knew this, but he knew that there were rumors flying around the school about him.  
  
"Dis is true. She wasn't faithful. But I wouldn't trade de five years I was able to touch her for anyt'ing. I want you to have dat feeling. Even if it is only for a few hours."  
  
"But ah don't have anyone who loves me like that," she said back to him, looking down at her bare hands.  
  
"It don't matter, chere. You don't understand. You don't need to be in love wit' someone to enjoy deir touch. And I t'ink everyone on dis plane here loves you someway or another."  
  
He was right. They all cared so much about each other. And he was also right about Rogue. She needed to be touched right now. She needed to accept the facts and move on. Enjoy it while she could, and let it go when it was over. It was gonna be tough as hell, but she could do it. She'd be fine. 


End file.
